Though much of the news from this week's NXT tapings was focused on some other major moments coming together ahead of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, Cain Velasquez's appearance in the crowd raised quite a few eyebrows.

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Though it might seem as though the scripted fighting of the WWE and the real fighting in the world of MMA don't have much in common, backgrounds in amateur wrestling and various martial arts have allowed stars to transition from one world to the other.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is back in "recreational training" and will "100 percent" make his Octagon return in 2018, according to head coach Javier Mendez.

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That wasn't all that Velasquez (14-2), 35, was up to during his time in Orlando, though, as the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion stepped into one of the rings at the WWE's Performance Center and learned from a few of the brightest minds in wrestling.

Velasquez stepped into the ring and ran through some moves with Performance Center athlete and former MMA fighter Adrian Jaoude. That happened under the watchful eye of trainer Norman Smiley, with assistance from a handful of other NXT superstars and referee Drake Wuertz.

The connections between MMA and WWE are vast and continue to grow on a regular basis. Universal champion Brock Lesnar has crossed back and forth between WWE and UFC on a number of occasions, even losing the heavyweight title to Velasquez himself. Lesnar recently challenged Daniel Cormier after Cormier defeated Stipe Miocic to win that same belt at UFC 225.